What if You’re Just Not Good Enough To Be a Successful Writer?

16 Jun 2020 | Craft

What if You're Just Not Good Enough To Be a Successful Writer?

This post was originally published in June 2016 and updated in June 2020.

What if you’re not good enough?

What if you enjoy writing … but you’re actually pretty rubbish at it?

What if any success you’ve had so far has just been a fluke?

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only writer who’s ever had those thoughts – more times than I care to admit.

Perhaps you feel that way too.

It’s easy – and tempting – to say here of course you’re good enough.nBut I think that invalidates a deep, difficult fear for a lot of us.

What Does “Success” Mean for Your Writing?

To know whether you’re good enough to be a successful writer, you really need to know what “successful” means – for you.

There are plenty of different ways to measure writing success. Some writers would definite it as literary acclaim; others as commercial success. Some simply want their writing to be a source of deep personal fulfillment. All of these are equally valid.

Your idea of “success” will likely include one or more of the following:

  • Having your work published by a traditional publisher.
  • Self-publishing your work and selling a certain number of copies / making a certain amount of money.
  • Making a living from your writing, so you can quit your day job and write full time.
  • Getting lots of positive reviews from readers.
  • Impressing your parents (or friends, blog readers etc).
  • Doing what you love – writing – every day.

There’s no “right” answer to what constitutes success, but it’s important to know what it looks like for you. You might also want to consider here which types of success you’re going to let slide. For instance, if you want to make lots of money writing, you’re almost certainly going to get a few negative reviews about your literary worth along the way. (E.L. James, anyone?)

The definition of “good enough” is inextricably tied up with what you see as “success”. If you want to win the Booker prize, then you probably need quite different writing skills from someone who wants to make a living doing technical writing. In fact, if you’re writing fiction in general, the bar for “good enough” is a fair bit higher than it is for non-fiction.

Are Your Worries About Your Writing Realistic or Not?

Without reading a fair amount of your writing, I can’t tell you whether or not your writing is good enough for you to see the type of success that you want.

However, I can tell you that:

  • Lots of writers worry that they “aren’t good enough”, even when they’re perfectly competent – or potentially fantastic – writers. This can be a form of Impostor Syndrome.
  • Many bestselling writers get critical reviews saying that their writing is poor – think of Dan Brown, E.L. James, or Stephanie Meyer.
  • Whatever the current standard of your writing skills, you can (and will!) improve by writing regularly and by studying the craft of writing.

It can be hard to trust your own judgement, or that of people close to you, when you’re worrying about whether or not you’re good enough.

Some handy external indications are:

  • Fiction writers: Have you ever won a prize, been shortlisted in a competition, or been otherwise rewarded or acclaimed for your writing? This doesn’t need to be in a big way – it could simply be that you’ve had positive comments on your work.
  • Freelancers: Have you ever been paid for your writing? Clients and editors generally know what they’re doing. Even if one client reluctantly accepted a shoddy piece of writing, it’s unlikely that multiple clients would.
  • Bloggers: Have you ever received a positive comment or email from a blog reader, telling you how your blog post helped them or came at just the right moment?
  • Anyone: Has a writing tutor or editor told you that your writing is good? Professionals know what they’re talking about. Even peers in a writing group will be experienced readers and can give you an indication of how good your writing is.

On the flip side, if your writing isn’t currently good enough for you to achieve your goals, you might have some of these going on:

  • Fiction: Your self-published novel has been poorly reviewed on Amazon (less than a 3 star average). Feedback from writing peers is lukewarm at best.
  • Freelancers: You struggle to find and keep clients; clients often want lots of revisions and still don’t seem happy with the finished product.
  • Bloggers: You can’t get any large(ish) blogs to accept your guest posts. Your own blog seems to have very few readers and little engagement.
  • Anyone: You’ve had little writing experience, and often months go by without you writing anything at all.

Note that these aren’t necessarily problems with your writing (e.g. you could just have crappy clients, or you might have marketed your novel to the wrong audience), but they are potential indications that you need to work more on your craft.

Developing Your Writing Skills

If you do feel you need a bit of a boost to your writing skills, here are some of the ways in which your writing might not be quite “good enough”:

#1: Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation

This is the level where your writing can technically be wrong, though it shades into #2 where some issues are a matter of style.

A good editor may well be able to catch many of these errors, and if you’re writing in a second language or you’re dyslexic, they’re certainly no indication that you’re a poor writer – just that you’re struggling with the word-and-sentence level of the craft.

Unfortunately, any errors in these act as a red flag to potential clients, publishers or readers. (I once got a guest post pitch titled “guets post” – an easy slip of the finger, but not exactly a promising start.)

Here’s an example from a self-published novel where a good editor might have helped:

See-You-In-Hell-excerpt

(From See You in Hell, by Oscar Hutson)

Typos happen, but it’s unfortunate to have two in the first paragraph. I suspect the author edited the text at some point and errors crept in:

  • “a highly sensitive flying robot as small as a butterfly and had in fact been nicknamed the Butterfly” doesn’t work grammatically, unless we take it that Gerald Mason is the one nicknamed the Butterfly. It seems clear from context, though, that it’s the robot.
  • “hover like a butterfly in slow flits in search of nectar moving from flower to flower” – I struggled to make sense of this: removing “in slow” would make it work grammatically though I’m not convinced that “hover” and “flits” are the same sort of movement.

(Quick aside: I’ve a huge amount of admiration for anyone who finishes a novel and publishes it. My use of this example isn’t intended as any comment – positive or negative – on the novel as a whole.)

I won’t attempt to provide an exhaustive list of every possible error you might make with spelling, grammar or punctuation, but here are some good places to start.

15 Grammar Goofs That Make You Look Silly [Infographic], Brian Clark, Copyblogger

Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling, The Oatmeal

30 of the Most Common Grammatical Errors We All Need to Stop Making, Hubspot (a few things on this list are fairly subjective,

#2: Awkward, Stilted or Uncomfortable Writing

Some writers don’t get anything technically wrong (see #1), but their writing just feels off. Maybe they repeat the same sentence structure way too often, or they write as though they’re talking to a four year old – or they go in the other direction and use lots of complicated, Latinate words because they think those will sound impressive.

This can include stylistic (and fairly easily resolved) issues like using lots of “said-bookisms”, such as in this example:

dream-killer

(From Dream Killer by Mike Baldwin)

There are a lot of fancy dialogue tags here – one or two would be fine, but “clamoured” is definitely getting into the realms of the slightly silly. The sentences are perfectly grammatical, but the stretching for ever-different words quickly grates: “said” would have been absolutely fine in most cases.

(Again, my use of this excerpt isn’t intended as any comment, positive or negative, on the book as a whole.)

#3: Grammatical, Fluent But Forgettable Writing

Another problem that can crop up, once you’re writing pretty well, is that your writing is perfectly readable, but it lacks voice. It’s essentially forgettable.

This one isn’t necessarily a problem. For some types of writing, an “invisible” writing style is a great thing. It’s a real asset for a lot of freelancing, especially technical writing. It’s also very common in fast-paced, plot-focused fiction (e.g. thrillers). Instead of drawing attention to themselves, your words act as a conduit for your ideas, information, or plot.

If you’re writing literary fiction, though, or if you’re building a blog (where having a unique voice can be a big draw for readers), then you might want to spend some time focusing on this aspect of your craft.

In some cases, developing a strong voice and a unique style goes hand-in-hand with becoming more comfortable with your writing and being more willing to take risks or stand out.

#4: Great Writing Style, But You Struggle With the Big Picture

Some writers are fantastic at individual sentences, but struggle with the bigger picture of writing. In many ways, this is a more difficult issue to have than being poor at spelling and grammar – the details are fairly easy for an editor to fix, but if your whole plot or concept doesn’t work, that’s tougher.

I’ve known novelists who wrote beautifully – but didn’t have a strong grasp of narrative or plot, so their wonderful writing just meandered around. With bloggers, some have a fantastic way with words, but struggle to create posts that have a clear point – or find it very tough to blog consistently.

How to Get Better at Writing (However Good or Bad You Currently Are)

Ultimately, I don’t think it matters how “good” you are at writing, right now. What matters is how good you’re going to be – relative to your current position – in two years’ time.

Here’s how to improve:

#1: Make Time to Write Regularly

Between the ages of 10 and 13, I had piano lessons. I’m not naturally musical (I can’t sing in key or keep a beat) and I practised as little as possible. I progressed slowly and reluctantly before persuading my parents to let me give up.

I can’t imagine I’d ever have been great, but I could certainly now be a competent pianist if I’d practiced for 15 minutes every day since I was 10.

The same applies with writing: you can’t expect to improve as a writer without actually spending some time putting words on paper. You don’t have to write daily, but anything less than twice a week is going to make it tough to build up a sense of momentum and progress.

If you’re struggling to make much (or any) time for your writing, you’re definitely not alone. This is the biggest writing problem I hear about … and definitely one I’ve had to struggle against myself. If you join my free newsletter, you’ll get instant access to my mini-ebook Time to Write, with lots of practical tips for making time for your writing.

#2: Get Objective Feedback on Your Writing

It’s very difficult to judge the quality of writing that you’ve produced. Bring in an outsider (preferably not your spouse or close friend) to read your work. That might be:

  • A local writers’ group that critiques members’ work-in-progress.
  • An editor who can provide a developmental review / “big picture” edit of your novel.
  • Beta readers who’ll give you feedback on your writing.
  • Fellow freelancers or bloggers who you’ve met in a Facebook group or other online forum.

Encourage them to point out what could be better. Spend time deliberately learning more about that aspect of your craft and practicing it.

#3: Spend More Time Planning

Planning is one of the four stages of writing … and the quality of your planning can make a huge difference to the quality of your finished piece.

If you’re not naturally a planner, try to consciously make time to prepare before you write. This can really help if you’re great at putting together sentence but struggle with the bigger picture issues.

Planning ahead might mean following a process along these lines:

  • Brainstorming ideas so you can pick your best one.
  • Jotting down notes and thoughts about what you’re going to write.
  • Collating these thoughts into a coherent, linear form.
  • Expanding on this as you feel necessary (e.g. with a novel, you might start with a list of key scenes or plot points, then work out what else needs to happen around them).

I sometimes set a timer for 5 minutes when I sit down to write to help me focus on planning first, rather than leaping ahead into writing.

#4: Use Simple Editing Tricks

You’ll know better than me what problems your writing suffers with on a sentence-by-sentence or paragraph-by-paragraph level. Once you’ve identified a particular problem, figure out a good way to solve it when you edit your draft.

That might mean things like:

  • Watching out for overlong sentences and aiming to break them into two or three separate sentences where possible.
  • Doing a “find” for particular phrases that you tend to use too frequently.
  • Reading your work aloud to help you spot clunky sentences or grammatical errors.
  • Leaving a [note to self] when you draft, if there’s a particular fact, spelling, etc that you want to double-check.
  • Paying particular attention to key areas of your piece – e.g. the opening and ending.

#5: Consider Studying Literature

While I don’t think this is necessary in order to be a good writer, studying literature can give you an insight into how great texts are put together. You’ll learn about how they work on a structural level down to the individual word choices the author made.

Even if you’re going to be writing something very different (e.g. advertising copy), a background in literature can help give you a richer appreciation of words.

If a formal course isn’t practical for you right now, you could simply commit to reading one piece of literature each month. You might try K.M. Weiland’s annotated edition of Jane Eyre, which is an excellent way to see story structure in action.

#6: Deliberately Study the Craft of Writing

If you’ve already got a shelf full of books on writing, you might want to set aside time each week to work through one of those – perhaps tackling a chapter at a time and trying out any exercises.

Otherwise, some great (and free!) places to start are with:

Ultimately, remember: the only way to get better at writing (and see the success you want) is to actually write.


Want something more in-depth? Try my self-study seminar packs. Quite a few of the seminars in there deal with the craft of both fiction and non-fiction.

You can currenty get the whole set of seminars (eight packs, four seminars in each … that’s thirty-two seminars in total!) for just $50. All the seminars have a full, nicely edited transcript, plus a summary worksheet to help you put what you learn into practice in your writing.

About

I’m Ali Luke, and I live in Leeds in the UK with my husband and two children.

Aliventures is where I help you master the art, craft and business of writing.

My Novels

My contemporary fantasy trilogy is available from Amazon. The books follow on from one another, so read Lycopolis first.

You can buy them all from Amazon, or read them FREE in Kindle Unlimited.

22 Comments

  1. Alexander Kreator

    Interesting post. Although I have written a million draft words and published a short story-book ( Ywnwab! – in 2013 ) I decided last year I wanted to write and read for pleasure rather than endure all the hassle of publishing. Some days I think about bringing all the million words up to publishable standard but time is against me now.

    • Ali

      There’s nothing at all wrong with writing purely for the joy of it! And of course if you do want to publish in a low-key way, you could potentially start a simple blog and post your work there.

  2. Anne

    Hi Ali,

    I’ve published several articles in two small newspapers years ago. My goal for 2016 is to write on a regular basis so that my guest blog posts are good enough to get accepted. I have a niche. I just need to practice capturing and writing ideas and developing the confidence to pitch. So far I haven’t nailed down the markets I think I can manage. These are what I call my “low-hanging fruit.”

    • Ali

      Anne, just from reading your comment (and taking a sneaky look at your blog) I can tell you that you’re going to be way ahead of 95% of guest post pitches!

      (I used to edit DailyBlogTips and got a lot of guest post submissions. Trust me, you would’ve stood out in my inbox as a shining beacon of clarity and competent writing..!)

      While some very large blogs are tough to get a guest post slot on (they often work by invitation-only), many more are very open to new writers. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t had much experience before. Don’t feel you need to wait to be “good enough” — chances are you already are, and there are probably some editors out there who’d be very grateful to have a post from you.

      Good luck!

  3. Terry Tyler

    This is a very good post! Re knowing you’re not much good if you have a 3* average, though – even the most awful books have 5* reviews from all the authors’ friends! Which brings the average up. The lack of blog views is a good indicator, though, yes. Professional critiques can be misleading; you might be told you are good simply because the critic wants to hang on to your business, or get recommendations via you. I’ve reviewed a couple of books that were seriously awful, that had been through the critique process. And members of writing groups can sometimes have other agendas. Oh dear, am I a bit jaded?!

    I agree, though, that some people just aren’t very good writers. I’d love to be a terrific painter, for instance, or a great photographer, but I just don’t have much talent, and you do need innate talent to be really good at something creative. It all comes down to whether or not you have the gift for forming sentences that make the reader want to keep turning the pages. Working hard can make you competent, though; yes, you’re right. And there’s nothing to say you can’t keep writing just because you enjoy it; just tuck those ‘bestseller’ fantasies away!

    • Ali

      Good point about authors with 5*-reviewing friends! I suppose if you can’t even get a good review from friends, you know you’re in trouble… 😉

      I’m not sure I totally agree about innate talent. I suspect some people are more suited to writing than others, but I think that anyone who loves it and is willing to work at it can get good at it.

  4. Icy Sedgwick

    I’ve been writing for years and I STILL worry I’m not actually good enough to be a success! Luckily I have an awesome editor, and I pay attention to where she says I need to improve, and I try to learn from it so I cover that issue in the next story without her needing to tell me…but I do sometimes wonder if it’s easier for other people.

    Still, it is sometimes easy to assume that if you can write, then it must be easy, so why should you stand out from the crowd?
    Icy Sedgwick’s last blog post ..How can freewriting help writers with plotting or blocks?

    • Ali

      I still worry too. (And like you, I have an awesome editor.)

      One of the difficulties is that if you’re a decent writer, you can also spot the flaws in pieces of writing (including your own). Often, these are things that a “normal” reader wouldn’t even notice.

      My sister paints (beautifully, I might add!) and she was showing me one of her paintings a few years ago — she pointed at a bit where she said the brush strokes were all wrong and I really couldn’t see it. It looked perfect to me. (I should add I don’t paint or draw or anything, I’m a words-only artist!)

      I think that must be how readers sometimes experience our writing: they just don’t see the things we agonise over.

  5. Emma Darwin

    Great post – thank you! I came here via Averill Buchanan – I’m a writer but I’m also a mentor and tutor to writers of many kinds, and they have very varied levels of talent, experience and writerly education. I think we’ve all had this kind of dark night of the soul every now and again, and this is a very good round-up of what to do about it!
    Emma Darwin’s last blog post ..The Fiction Editor’s Pharmacopoeia; diagnosing symptoms & treating the disease

    • Ali

      Thanks for all the kind words, Emma! Yes, I think we all go through this (for me it comes and goes — if I stay busy enough writing I don’t stop too much to think about whether I’m any good at it… ;-))

  6. Serenity Bohon

    This post is excellent, but it also led me to the one about fiction. I so appreciate both. The fiction one because I have been sincerely wrestling with that – if fiction is so hard for me why am I trying? Thanks for reminding me it’s okay to struggle. I’m struggling! But I still feel compelled to continue.
    Serenity Bohon’s last blog post ..The Relief Behind Door Number Three

    • Ali

      I’m not convinced anyone ever entirely stops struggling with fiction! I certainly have yet to get there. It *is* really hard, but (I feel) worthwhile.

      (I’ll delete your duplicate comment in a sec — probably a little blog glitch, sorry about that!)

  7. Kathy @ SMART Living 365

    Hi Ali! I really appreciate this post and agree with everything you’ve said here. I started writing about 25 years ago and I readily admit I wasn’t very good. But what did have was a desire and a passion to stick with it….and here I am after all these years. And while I realize that my writing still has lots of room for improvement, I have been published by a traditional publisher (2), have been paid money over the years by regular free-lance clients, have had letters and comments on my blog and from my books letting me know that my words have touched and inspired others, and sold a decent amount of books. But as you say, until and unless you can embrace your own definition of success, the doubt will haunt you. Of course, reading posts like yours help to remind every writer of the what the future holds. Thanks again….and may we all keep writing! ~Kathy
    Kathy @ SMART Living 365’s last blog post ..Julia Cameron, Retirement, and The Creative Journey

    • Ali

      Desire and passion are worth a heck of a lot — sounds like they carried you along very well indeed.

      One of the lovely things about writing (well, mostly lovely!) is that we’re never done — there’s always room to grow and go further, or to branch out in a whole new direction. I too hope we all keep writing, and hope your future holds even more success. 🙂

  8. Wendy McCance

    I just love this article!! I feel that if you love writing, you are good enough. Maybe not for a magazine or a book, but there is a place somewhere where your writing would fit in. Even if you just have a blog to express yourself, if you love writing, that is good enough!
    Wendy McCance’s last blog post ..Have You Been Discarding Facebook Friends?

    • Ali

      I think that’s a great take on it, Wendy. Really, there’s no authority out there on what constitutes “good enough” — and for me, anything written, however imperfectly, has to be better than the perfect words that only exist in our heads. 🙂

  9. Sapphirehaven

    Hi,
    I’m not an English speaker soy grammar is awful but I reakkt love writing. In fact I started writing novel through wattpad. Through my readers I learned a lot. They corrected me and I’m blessed.

    This blog will help me more.
    Thanks for sharing it with us.
    God bless you!

  10. Laura

    I’m not good enough for a lot of reasons. I’ve tried everything from blogging about everything from politics to psychology but getting bad reviews for not saying what people want to hear. My stories are never long enough nor anything anyone wants to read. I don’t even get bad criticism. I get no criticism. I’m not generic enough in my topics. My poetry is trying too hard while really crappy, generic poems get read. So yeah I’m an emotional wreck at this point. Sorry.

    • Ali

      Oh Laura, I’m so sorry to hear that. It sounds like you may not yet have found the right audience for your blogging. Fiction can be really tough to build an audience for, especially if you write fiction of an unusual length (though there are markets and readers out there for pretty much anything — it may just take a while if you’re writing something less popular).

      Poetry can be incredibly tough. I know some wonderful poets who only make a small income from it — and you’re right that some “popular” poetry (particular the stuff in greetings cards!) is often terrible.

      Do keep writing about whatever you love to write about. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried joining a workshop group or similar, but I’ve found it hugely valuable over the years to have the support of, and feedback from, other writers.

      Hope things get easier for you, and sending very best writing wishes your way.

  11. Xceptional43

    Hi Ali,
    I have been following your blog for quite a while and it’s been amazing.
    I keep learning something new everytime.
    Am I good enough?
    Not as much as I want to. But I am way confident in my writing now than when I started. And I hope to be better at the end of the year than I am now.
    There are lots of areas I need to work on, likewise there are areas I am good at now.
    Still, one can never be good enough or can one?

    • Ali

      I think we all carry on learning and improving as writers — I suppose “good enough” is about being at the level where you can reach (or at least work towards) your writing goals.

      It’s great to hear your confidence is growing as your writing develops … and so glad you’re enjoying the blog!

  12. paver designs

    Thanks for the information. It’s very helpful.

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